


A Broken Soul

by ChronoPhantom



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Feral!Edelgard, after timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 05:28:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21049064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronoPhantom/pseuds/ChronoPhantom
Summary: It was five years ago that Byleth made a promise. Now after five years, she finds a broken soul atop the Goddess Tower.





	A Broken Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This little one-shot is based on hlebkamendraws' reverse FE:3H AU on Tumblr. If you have time, I'd check it out, it's a pretty cool concept! This is mainly a mix of others' headcanons (Edelgard thinking that everyone used her/everyone was only acting nice to her, not mine) and some of my own headcanons (Edelgard growing bitter after thinking that Byleth abandoned her/left her to fend for herself after going missing during the timeskip).
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments/kudos are very much appreciated. ^^

It was five years ago in the monastery that Byleth made a promise.

Not just to Edelgard, but to all of the students of the Black Eagles. Everyone was to meet for a class reunion, to see just how much everyone had grown. Byleth still remembered a feeling swelling in her chest, a feeling she couldn’t describe then, but now she could only describe as excitement. Her, excited? The professor who barely showed any emotion at all was excited? It almost sounded unbelievable.

But that was five years ago. Five years before Claude betrayed Edelgard, before the Alliance declared war on the Church of Seiros, and before Byleth fell into the endless ravine in the midst of the battle. How she had survived such a treacherous fall, Byleth had no idea, but that was not important, not in the slightest.

She had a promise to fulfill, and fulfill it she would. She would see her students no matter what dangers she could face. 

Byleth found herself reminding herself about the promise repeatedly in her head as she walked up the steps to the Goddess Tower. Where she and Edelgard secretly met during the ball all those years ago, she silently recalled. But unlike five years ago, the corpses of several Alliance soldiers littered the steps, with their blood spilling down the steps into darkened purple-red pools. Just passing by and stepping over them sent a chill down Byleth’s spine, a feeling she had seldom experienced before. Someone had clearly been in here, pursued almost endlessly by Alliance soldiers, all of whom which met a grisly and bloodsoaked end. 

But it wasn’t until Byleth had reached the top step that she realized just who had been killing them so mercilessly.

As she stepped over the final step, a single ray of light filled the center of the room, brightening the Crest of Seiros and Byleth’s light green hair. But beyond the light, a shadowed figure lay on the ground, their head shadowed by a tattered beige cape lined with crimson fur at the shoulders. Long, crimson-stained white hair spilled onto the ground as one hand clutched an axe-like weapon, the weapon itself resembling the jaws of a Demonic Beast as a pool of blood formed from it’s blood stained edge.

Byleth took a single step forward, and the figure stirred slightly. She took another step, and the figure only curled up further in an almost fetal position. 

“Edelgard?” 

Upon hearing her name, the white-haired woman almost flinched as she locked eyes with her former Professor. But she grit her teeth and a low growl tore her throat, resembling a cornered wild animal. For a moment, she dared not move, but after a bout of silence, she slowly pushed herself off the ground, her hair now draping the sides of her face, and Byleth gasped silently, now seeing the eyepatch that covered Edelgard’s left eye. A streak of dried blood trailed from her nose and from the corner of her jaw, and what eye Byleth could see was lined with bags.

“It’s you…” Edelgard growled upon staring at Byleth face-to-face. “So all this time, you were alive.” She scoffed as she turned away from her former professor. “You’re just like the rest of them…” 

For a moment, Byleth couldn’t fathom that the Edelgard from five years ago and this war-torn woman were one and the same. But regardless, this was Edelgard, one of her beloved students. Though her voice was low and ragged, Byleth could sense the faintest feeling of pain behind it, not just in her voice but looking at her remaining violet eye. What was once filled with ambition and pride was now clouded with bitterness and misery. 

“What are you talking about?” 

Byleth was not met with a verbal answer, but another scoff as Edelgard folded her arms. But soon she spoke, and her voice was lined with what could only be described as hatred.

“Isn’t it obvious? You used me, like the rest of those damned fools. Every word of support, every time you said you believed in me, they were nothing but lies. You only ever saw my skills in battle. And when I needed your help most five years ago...you abandoned me.” Edelgard winced almost as if she was in pain. “And if you’re here now, that can only mean you’re here to dispose of me. You have no further use for me after all. Isn’t that right?”

“Of course not,” Byleth answered, shaking her head as a sinking feeling entered her chest. But despite her denial, Edelgard appeared unmoved as she gripped her axe, stepping away from her Professor.

Used her? How could Edelgard think of such a thing? While Edelgard was talented in battle, Byleth saw more than just her skills with an axe, far beyond that. She saw the side Edelgard almost never showed to anyone, her softer, vulnerable side. The side that was scarred from her experimentations, the side that wanted to eat sweets instead of constantly fighting and studying, that was what Byleth saw the most in her student, not her skills on the battlefield. 

As Edelgard’s back was to Byleth, Byleth felt an incredible urge to say something, anything that would comfort her former student. Even if Edelgard’s tirade was lined with nothing but bitterness, Byleth felt pity for her. She had no idea what had transpired over the past five years, but it was clear that somehow, somewhere along the way, something had made Edelgard hardened and think that all of Fodlan was against her. The Alliance, the Kingdom, her missing friends, and even her Professor, the person who she could trust with anything, they had all become the enemy in her eyes. They had all used her and left her to fend for herself, and there was nobody in Fodlan that she could trust anymore.

But that wasn’t true. Though she had vanished before and had left her and the other students to fend for herself once, Byleth would never let it happen again. So long as she breathed, Byleth would never turn her back on her students, never again.

“...I’m glad you’re alright.” Byleth found herself saying after a long silence. Edelgard only turned to look at her former professor, and amidst another small scoff, Byleth saw the tiniest glimpse of sorrow in her eye. 

It wasn’t much, but at the very least, Edelgard had to know that her Professor still cared. No matter what, Edelgard would have one person at her side, someone that would never leave her again. Byleth silently vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to reassure Edelgard that she wasn’t alone. 

No matter how long it took, she hoped that Edelgard would find the ability to trust again.


End file.
